Heavy duty brushes



Filed Sept. 1', 1966 y 1967 D. 'r. H. MINTEY 3 9 HEAVY DUTY BRUSHES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 25, 1967 D. T. H. MINTEY HEAVY DUTY BRUSHES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 1. 1966 United States Patent 3,332,100 HEAVY DUTY BRUSHES Daniel T. H. Mintey, Prince of Wales Yard, Holmesdal Road, Reigate, England Filed Sept. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 576,588 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Sept. 7, 1965, 38,146/65 9 Claims. (Cl. -198) The present invention relates to heavy duty brushes such as are utilized for example in conjunction with road sweeping equipment.

Heavy duty brushes of this character may have a comparatively limited working life and normally comprise a support or stock adapted to receive steel wire bristle units, and unless the whole brush is discarded the bristles must be replaced from time to time. The removal of the old worn bristle units from the stock is a ditficult and unpleasant operation and after the old bristle units have been removed new bristles must be fitted and secured in position. The securing of the bristle units is in many cases effected by using for each unit a bunch of steel wires all looped to U-form the loops being inserted through suitable apertures or slots in the stock, after which the loops are fixed in position by means of a fastening wire inserted between the limbs of all the looped wires forming each unit, this fastening wire preventing outward movement of the bristles and this end of the stock being covered by a back plate which prevents inward movement of the bristles.

Conventional types of stock embody suitably positioned apertures or slots and in the typical case of the type of brush having a stock in the form of a disc fastened to the end of a driving shaft, with the bristles extending generally parallel to or somewhat divergently outwardly from the axis of the shaft, the apertures or slots may be arranged in one circle or preferably in two or more concentric circles on a disc-like stock member.

The present invention is particularly directed to a construction of a stock member for a brush of the character referred to wherein the stock consists of a plurality of concentric rings suitably indented or slotted on the adjoining peripheral faces to provide apertures formed partly in each of the adjoining rings and adapted to receive the bristle units.

With a construction of this character the rings can be readily detached to release the old and worn bristle units after which new bristle units can be readily and expeditiously fitted in position, being then locked by suitable fixing wires and the rings being then fixed against a back plate which holds the bristles firmly in position.

One embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by way of example on the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a sweeping brush, and

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken on the line II-II of FIG. 1.

In the arrangement shown on the drawings three concentric rings 4, 5, 6 are provided which are adapted to nest one .within the other as shown on FIG. 1 of the drawings. As an alternative to providing three rings 4 to 6, as shown, two rings only or more than three rings can be provided. These rings may be formed of wood, for example plywood, bonded and compressed fibre board materials, plastics or metal such as cast aluminium.

These rings fit neatly one in the other to form a discshaped assembly and the opposed peripheral faces between adjacent pairs of rings are toothed or slotted so that the inter-tooth spaces of the outer periphery of one ring coincide with the inter-tooth spaces of a ring dis- 3,332,100 Patented July 25, 1967 "ice posed around it, having between them a series of apertures or slots 7 concentrically of the axis of a driving shaft 8 carrying a back plate 9 fixed to the shaft by means of a nut 10 screwed on a threaded stub at the base of the shaft 8. As shown, the nut 10 is disposed within a central aperture in the smallest ring 4. Similar slots or teeth 7 may be formed between other pairs of rings thus providing two or more concentric series of apertures or slots to receive-the bristle units 11.

In general and in the case of a brush fitted to the end of a shaft, the apertures or slots 7 must be designed so as to extend divergently outwardly away from the axis of the driving shaft 8, and for this purpose the apertures or slots formed in the facing edges of the rings are angled obliquely to the axis of the driving shaft 8. For this purpose the aperture or slot formed in the outer face of the inner ring 4 or in the outer face of the centre ring 5 is deepest on the face nearest the back plate 9, the opposed part aperture formed respectively in the centre ring 5 or in the outer ring 6 being of verysmall depth at this point, as will be clearly seen from FIG. 2.

At the other end of each aperture or slot the converse is true, that is to say, the aperture or slot is deepest in the case of the centre ring 5 and the outer ring 6, the facing depression in the inner ring 4 and the centre ring 5 respectively being quite shallow. By this arrangement bristle-receiving apertures or slots 7 are formed which are divergent and enable the bristles 11 to be fixed in a manner extending divergently away from the driving shaft 8.

The several rings 4, 5 and 6 may be held in assembly by means of radially disposed fastening pins traversing all the rings or by bolts or set screws screwing into the innermost ring, from the outer periphery of the brush. With this arrangement the brush complete together with the back plate 9 may form a complete unit capable of being attached as a unit to the driving shaft 8 by means of the fixing nut 10, or the back plate 9 may form part of the shaft 8 the brush consisting of the rings 4, 5 and 6 being bolted to the back plate when required.

In the preferred arrangement shown on the drawings however the rings 4, 5 and 6 are held together by means of metal connector plates 12 extending radially along the upper faces of the rings 4, 5 and 6 and being conveniently let into recesses formed in said upper faces. These plates are held assembled to the rings 4 and 5 by means of counter-sunk-head fixing screws 13 with nuts and washers 14, and the rings 6 may be traversed by longer set screws 15 which also traverse the back plate 9 and couple the rings and the bristles carried thereby to the back plate 9 and hence to the driving shaft 8. The set screws 15 are headed at the upper end engaging the back plate 9 and are provided at the other ends with holding nuts and washers 14.

As clearly shown on FIG. 1 of the drawings, the bristle units 11 consist of a number of lengths of steel wire folded into U-form with the bight pushed through the slots or apertures 7 and then interconnected by means of connecting wires 16 passed through the bight part of each unit, each length of wire 16 thus running in an approximately circular path and traversing all the bristle units thereby locking them in position. The ends of each wire 16 are twisted together to form a fastening, as indicated at 17 on FIG. 2. A spacer member or washer 18 is preferably provided between the ring 6 and the back plate 9 and may be traversed by the set screws 15 so as to maintain a definite spacing between the back plate 9 and the rear face of the rings 4, 5 and 6 the spacer member being proportioned to ensure that substantial pressure is exerted on the bight loops of the bristle units without however imparting excessive stress to the rim of the back plate 9 or to the outermost ring 6.

In use a worn brush is reconditioned by detaching the back plate 9 and removing the fastening screws 13 or other means holding the rings 4, 5 and 6 in concentric assembly, after which the rings may be disengaged, completely freeing the old and worn bristle units which can then be discarded. New bristle units 11 can then be fitted, the bristle units being formed from looped steel Wires inserted into the apertures or slots 7 formed between the inter-tooth spaces of the interfitting rings 4, 5 and 6, and the bristle units 11 fixed in position by the wires 16 passed through the gaps between the limbs of the loops forming each unit and then allowed to rest on the rear face of the assembled rings, the latter rings being then fastened to the back plate 9.

It will be understood that with this arrangement the removal of the old and worn bristle units can be readily and expeditiously effected merely by disengaging the rings one from the other, and after the rings have been again assembled the reconditioned brush can be readily fixed in the Working position.

The plates 12 may in some cases be provided with locating pegs adapted to be received by apertures in one or more of the rings, for example in the rings 4 and 5, and in this case the ring 6 may be traversed by a fastening screw 15 passing through the back plate 9, as shown.

What I claim is:

1. A heavy duty brush, comprising a plurality of concentric rings fitted one within the other and having channels in the mutually opposed peripheral faces to form bristle-receiving apertures and bristle units detachably fitted in said apertures.

2. A heavy duty brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein said apertures are angled in relation to the faces of the concentric rings to provide a divergent arrangement of the bristle units.

3. A heavy duty brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein each channel is relatively deep and tapers towards the upper face in the case of an inner ring surface and towards the under face in the case of an outer ring surface.

4. A heavy duty brush as claimed in claim 3, wherein each face is formed by a shallow indentation on one face and by a deep indentation on the opposing face.

5. A heavy duty brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein each bristle unit comprises a plurality of parallel wires bent to U-shape and further comprising a fixing wire traversing the bight loops of groups of bristle units, such fixing wires being connected by twisting.

6. A heavy duty brush as claimed in claim 1, comprising a plurality of interfitting concentric rings and a back plate fastened to one of said rings, said back plate engaging the bristle units to hold them in engagement with the concentric rings.

7. A heavy duty brush as claimed in claim 1, comprising a plurality of inter-engaged concentric rings, bristle units secured in apertures formed in part in the meeting faces of said rings, said bristle units being formed of groups of wires bent to U-shape and inserted in said aperture, means fastening the bight ends of said bristle units to the upper face of said concentric rings, and a back plate held by screw means in engagement with the concentric rings and exerting pressure on the bight ends of the bristle units.

8. A heavy duty brush according to claim 7, comprising fastening plates connecting the concentric rings, said plates being fastened to said rings to hold said rings in fixed assembly and screw fastening means traversing said plates and connecting the rings to the back plate.

9. A heavy duty brush according to claim 8, further comprising means for detachably fastening the back plate together with the rings and bristles to a driving shaft to form a complete brush.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,577,856 3/1926 Wingert.

1,892,926 1/1933 Bilde 15l80 2,504,643 4/1950 Burgoon 15-197 X 2,539,054 1/1951 Breuer et al. l5180 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

P. FELDMAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A HEAVY DUTY BRUSH, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CONCENTRIC RINGS FITTED ONE WITHIN THE OTHER AND HAVING CHANNELS IN THE MUTUALLY OPPOSED PERIPHERAL FACES TO FORM BRISTLE-RECEIVING APERTURES AND BRISTLES UNITS DETACHABLY FITTED IN SAID APERTURES. 